Web feeding and control device for printing machines



Jall- 1961 H. E. GEORGE ETAL 2,967,479

WEB FEEDING AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. so, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 10, 1961 H. E. GEORGE EIAL 2,967,479

WEB FEEDING AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 K/EFBEPT EDWRD GEORGE MR7 A'MRD COUPMA/D g W m 1961 .H. E. GEORGE ETAL 2,967,479

WEB FEEDING AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 30, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent "O WEB FEEDING AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR PRINTING MACHINES Herbert Edward George, Epping, and Albert Edward Coupland, Enfield, England, assignors to George & Miller Limited, Enfield, England Filed Dec. 30, 1958, Ser. No.v 783,843

Claims priority, application Great Britain Jan. 7, 1958 7 Claims. (Cl. 101-228) forations across the web to enable it to be readily divided into separate sheets.

This form of paper is known in the printing trade as marginally punched continuous stationery, and is used in office machines having a pin-wheel drive the pin wheels of which engage in the marginal holes in the web, It has been found desirable to have a printing machine which can be used with pre-punched stationery, one important use of such a machine being for overprinting corrections or additional matter on previously printed stationery.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved printing machine for the purpose set forth.

According to the invention, in a rotary printing machine for printing on paper webs having rows of holes at their edges, and including a continuously rotatable printing roller, a continuously rotatable pressure roller adapted to press a paper web against the printing roller, and a pin wheel drive for drawing the printed web away from the printing roller by engagement with the marginal holes in said web, the pressure roller and the pin "wheel drive are arranged to rotate respectively with the transmitter and slave units of a magnetic synchronous drive or servo system, the'pressure roller and printing roller being arranged to release the paper web at least once during'each revolution of the printing roller, and the transmitter unit being arranged to transmit rotation to the slave unit only during a predetermined part of each revolution of the printing roller so that the drawing away of the paper web from the printing roller by the pin wheel drive takes place only during that part of each revolution of the printing roller, the arrangement being such that, during that part of each revolution, the printingtakes place.

The transmitter may be brought into and out of operation respectively by the operation of switch means controlled by a cam rotating with the printing roller.

Brake means may be provid ed for stopping the pinwheel drive when thetrans'mitter is put out of operation.

Means maybe provided for changing the length of the part of eachre volution of the printing roller during whichthe servosystem is-in'operation, and said means may-comprise a plurality of cams each associated with an electric switch controlling the servo system, and furtherswitch -means forselectively bringing into circuit theswitehe'soperatedby-the'respectivecams. 4

l lie invention is-hereinafter'" described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of printing machine according to the invention, the outer side casing of the machine on the side from which the machine is viewed being removed;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1, looking from the opposite side and also with one of the side casings removed;

Figure 3 is a plan view in which the printing roller is partly broken away and the inking mechanism' is omitted;

Figure 4 is a front view of the pin-wheel mechanism removed from the machine; and e Figure 5 is an electrical circuit diagram of i the;-

machine.

Referring to the drawings, the machine has a frame 10, of which only the upper part is shown, and between side members of which is rotatably mounted a printing roller 11 adapted to have mounted on its periphery an arcuate printing plate 12 (Figure 3). The printing. roller 11 is mounted above a divided table 13, 14, and a pressure roller 15, mounted below the table, co-operates with the latter in the gap 16, between the two parts 13, 14 of the table. 1 Inking mechanism, generallyindicated at 17, is provided to ink the printing plate, this mechanism being of any known type so that it needs no specific description" u herein.

A web of paper to beiprinted, which has been previously punched with perforations (not shown) at its} edges, perforated-transversely at suitable intervals, and folded in zig-zag fashion at the perforations, is mounted I on a delivery platform in the lower part of the machine;

- 11 and the pressure roller 15 respectively are in mesh one with the other and rotate the said rollers at equal peripheral speeds. The spurgear 26 is also in mesh with an idler gear 27 driven by a pinion 28 on a shaft 29 (Figure 2) which is in turn driven by a belt 31 and a pair of spur gears 32, 33 (Figure 1) from an electric motor 30, shown only in the circuit diagram (Figure 5) Another spur gear 34 rotating with the idler 27 drives" through a pinion 35, the transmitter 36 of a magnetic synchronous drive or servo system. The slave unit 37 of the servo system is coupled by a pinion 38 and spur gear 39 to the spindle 40 which carries the pin wheels 22, the arrangement being such that the pin wheels, when driven by the slave unit 37, rotate at the same peripheral speed as the printing roller 11 and the pressure roller 15.

The supply of electric current to the transmitter of the servo system is taken from a transformer 41, Figure 5 through a circuit including several conductors in parallel, any one "of which is-brou'ght into the circuitby closingone of a plurality of electric switches 42. In each of these'conductors there is a two-way micro-switch=43i which, in one position, closes the circuit of the trans mitter 36 and in the other position, closes the circuit of an electromagnetic brake 44 acting onthe pin-wheel spindle 40.

The micro-switches 43 are operated by a bank of "ca rn-s mounted on the spindle which carire s the printingroller '5;

one micro-switch and its a'ss ociated cam '45 being-shown in Figure 1. The micro-switch 43 .'is pivotally-niounted at 46 on a carrier 46a adjustable about the cam axis-arid is adjustable radially relative to the cam 45 by a screw The paper then;

47engaging a fined abutment 48, the operating member of the switch carrying a roller 49, which engages the cam 45. The cam has a raised portion 51 extending over a part of its periphery, each one of the cams having its raised portion 51 extending over an arc subtending the same angle at the centre of the printing. roller'as does one of various sizes of printing plate to be usedwith the machine.

The electro-magnetic brake 44 comprises a plunger 52 having a V-shaped end adapted to engage between teeth on a wheel 53 rotating with the pin wheels 22.

The pin wheels 22, and the paper guides 19 are movable inwardly and outwardly to set the machine for use with paper of various widths. The pin. wheels 22 are keyed to the shaft 40, the keys engaging in grooves 54 along which they are free to slide. A left-and-right hand screw-threaded rod 55 is mounted parallel to the'shaft 40 and closely adjacent to it, two nuts on the said rod 55- carrying arms 56 in which hubs 57 of the pin wheels 22 are rotatably mounted but relative to which the said hubs are unable to move axially. The paper guides 19 are carried by nuts mounted on another right-and-left hand screw-threaded rod 58, the two rods being coupled one to the other by a sprocket chain 59 passing over. sprocket wheels 60 and 61 on the said rods and over an adjustable idler sprocket 62, for varying the chain tension. A knob 63 in the rod 55 enables the pin wheels and paper guides to be simultaneously adjusted.

The guides 24 are curved plates which embrace parts of-theperipheries'of-the pinwheels 22 and are slot-ted to allow the pins on the said wheels to project therethrough; The said guides are movable about pivots at 64 tothe inoperative position in-which one of them is shown in Figures-3 and 4, to enablethe paper to be engaged with the pin wheels 22.

The printing plate 12 stands slightly proud, i.e. protrudes from the printing roller 11, and the paper is gripped between the said printing roller and the pressure roller 15 only when the said printing plate is passing the pressure roller. Consequently the paper is moved forward by the said rollers only during the part of a revolution of the printing roller when the printing plate is passing the pressure roller. When a printing plate 12 is mounted on the printing roller 11,-one of the switches 42 is closed to bring into operation a micro-switch 43 co-operating with a cam 45-subtendingthe same angle at the centre of the printingroller as does the said printing plate, the angular position of the switch being adjusted if necessary, by means of a gear ring 65' secured to the carrier 46a; and a pinion 66, to ensure that the follower roller 49 runs on to the lift portion 51 ofthe cam at the instant when the leading'edge of the printing plate comes up to the pressure roller, and leaves the said lift portion when the trailing edge of the printing plate passes the pressure roller.

Consequently, the pin wheel drive is started at the instant when the paper starts to be moved forward by the printing and pressure rollers, and is stopped when the forward movement of the paper by those rollers ceases, thebrake 44 being operated at the instant when the drive is cut off. The acceleration of the pin wheel drive by the servo system is so controlled that no slack is produced in thepaper web between-the printing roller and the pin wheel drive. Thepaper is supported as it moves to the pin wheels by the table portion 14, so that there is very little'load on the pin-wheel drive.

It will be understood-that two or more printing platesmay be mounted at the same time in the printing roller 11, the said plates being spaced apart circumferentially andthesurface of the roller 11 between them being relievedso that it does not press on the pressure roller. Thecams- 45 are thenmodified to have two or more lift portions-51 extending'over arcs correspondingto those subtended by the printing plates.

transmitter 36 by opening. aswitch 67 (Figure 5) and closing a switch 68. The servo system then operates continuously and the brake is inoperative. The machine can then be usedfor'coll ati'ng a plurality of'perforatecl paper webs by passing themover the pin-wheel drive, the printing roller having no printing plate'thereon;

We claim:

1. A rotary printing machine for printing on paper webs having rows of marginal holes near their lateral edges, said machine comprising a continuously rotatable printing roller, having a printingarea extending around only a part of its circumference and extending outwardly from the remainderof its surface, a continuously rotatable 'pressureroller adapted to press a paper-web against the printing area of the said printing. roller so that said web is gripped between said'rollers, a pin wheel drive adapted to engage the marginal holes in the web for drawing the printed web away from the printing. roller, an electro-magnetic synchronous servo system comprising a transmitter and a slave unit, means coupling said transmitter unit tosaid printing roller for rotation therewith, means couplingsaid slave unit to said pin wheel drive for rotation therewith, and means operated by the printing roller to-energize said transmitter unit only during that part of each revolutionof said printing roller during which the paper is gripped between the said printing area of said printing roller and said pressure roller.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which a cam is provided rotatingrwiththe printing -roller,-and switch means controlled by said cam actuates and deactuat'es said transmitter.

3. The combination set forth inclaim 2 in which brake means are provided to stop the pin-wheel drive when the transmitter is deactuated.

4. The combinationset forth in-c1aim= 2 in which means areprovided to change-the lengthof the part of each revolution of the printing roller during which the servo system is in operation;

5. The'combinationset forth-in claim 2 inwhichsaidmeans comprise -a plurality ofcams each associated with an electric switch controlling said servo system, and further switch means are positioned for selectively bringing intocircuit the switches-operated by the respective cams.

6. The combination-set forth in claim 1 in which the pinwheel drive comprises awshaft, a pair-of inwheels slidably mountedon said shaft forsimultaneousaxial movement inoppositedirectionsto adjust thespacing therebetween.

7. Thecornbination' set forthinclaim 6 in-which a pair of paper guides are provided-for-guidingthe paper web entering the machine; and means simultaneously to ad ust the spacing, between-said pin wheelsand said paper. guides.

ReferencesCitefl in the file of-this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,617,419 Robertsonet a1. Feb.-15,; 1927 2,079,223 Murdock May 4, 1937 2,361,421- Sherman Oct.31, 1944 2,546,372 Pincker-t Man 27, 1951 2,748,697 Smith- June"'5, 1956 2,911,905 Marvin et al. -.'........-.'Nov. 10, 1959 wan 

